The Dream: A Beginning, Part 2

         The forest was quiet and dark. Tall trees, lit only by scattered shafts of moonlight that filtered down through their tops far above, crowded close around her. Kailyn knew where she was. She knew this was the dream vision. She had been to this place the night her ancestors had called her to become a Druid; but this night she saw no elders, no wise men from the past. With the sparse moonlight to guide her, Kailyn started walking slowly through the trees toward the meeting place. The place where she knew she would find the reason she had been granted this vision…

         The night was hot and humid. Kailyn slept fitfully, tossing and turning, little droplets of sweat glistening on exposed skin. She moaned softly in her sleep… and then with a start, she bolted upright in her bed, inhaling sharply as she clutched the nightshirt to her breast.

         “Gah!” she thought, shaking her head to clear it, “I hate this dream.”

         Standing slowly and going to the wash basin on the table beside the bed, she wet a cloth and began to bath her neck in the soothing coolness of the water. Frowning, she wondered why it bothered her so much. There was nothing particularly disturbing or frightening about this dream, but she felt she was missing something. This dream had a purpose. If only she could remember it all, but she never remembered the end. This troubled her even more.

         Slapping the wet cloth onto the top of the bedside table in frustration, she grabbed the wine skin sitting beside the bowl, popped the stopper, and took a long pull of the slightly bitter wine inside, determined to finish what was left of the night in dreamless sleep. If she had to do it drunk, so be it. Three times she up-ended the wineskin, then feeling the warm glow start to spread slowly throughout her body, she thought she might finally get some undisturbed rest. Lying on top of the sweat-soaked mattress, she wondered if the wine would help.

         Unfortunately, the dream began where it had where it had left off…